A Sneek Peek of one of mybooks : Love and Loyalty
by MacavityManiac
Summary: Okay, so this story has been changed a little. For those of you who were wondering if Tugger liked Jemaara, here's you answer! So, the character of Jemaara is based on me and this i the second book in the series I'm writing. Please R&R!


Tugger pulled me away from the fight and into a little group of bushes.

"Jem, there's something I need to tell you." His face looked urgent.

My heart stopped. Had someone hurt Macavity?

He took a deep breath. "I love you Jem."

My eyes widened as he continued. "Ever since that first day, when you attacked that Pollicle, I couldn't help but love you. I-I've never been in love before, but there's something about you," he said, looking me in my eyes. "You're special, Jem."

I was speechless. He _**loved**_ me? Tugger put his paw on my shoulder.

"I want you to stay near me for the rest of the fight."

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

His eyes narrowed, turning dark. "Macavity's here. You might get hurt." His eyes returned to their soft, topaz color. "I couldn't let that happen," he whispered, leaning in towards me. He was going to kiss me! I couldn't let him. Oh Everlasting Cat, this was going to hurt him so much. I put my hand up to stop him.

"I'm sorry Tugger. I-I can't."

The look on his face nearly broke my heart. "Why?"

I sighed. "Tugger, you're probably the best friend I'll ever have, but I don't _**love**_ you. I'm sorry."

I jumped out of the bushes to rejoin the fight, leaving a heartbroken Tugger watching after me.

I ran right into a gold Queen, who scratched my face with her claws. My hand shot up to my bleeding cheek, and a look of recognition flooded into the Queen's eyes. It was Tiaret. Her eyes widened.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

I nodded. "It's fine." She bounded away and began to fight Pouncival and Tumblebrutus. I looked around for Bombalurina, and saw her fighting Verena and Valeria. I hopped in and took some very realistic swipes at them.

"Rina?"

"Yeah?"

"Tugger just told me he loves me."

She turned to me, dumbfounded. "W-What?"

Verena and Valeria saw that I was trying to talk to her, and, after taking another fake swipe at me, they leapt away to fight some other cats. There was a look of utter disbelief on Bombalurina's face, the tears welling up in her eyes. "I-I thought h-he," she stammered, and started to cry. I put my paw on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Rina," I said, comfortingly. "I don't love him."

She looked up, her cheeks tear-stained. "Y-You don't?"

I shook my head. "There's someone else."

Rina smiled. "I'm glad," she said, than blushed, embarrassed. "I-I don't mean I'm glad you don't love him," she stammered. "I mean I'm glad you have someone that you _**do**_ love."

I smiled. "Thanks Rina." I started to run off, but turned back to her. "Oh, and by the way," I added. "I think Tugger might need some cheering up later."

Rina laughed. "Thanks Jem," as I jumped away.

I looked around, and noticed a terrified Demeter cowering behind Munkustrap, who was warding off Macavity. Oh, how was I going to do this? I couldn't let them see me fighting for Macavity, but I couldn't let Munkustrap hurt him. I leapt in-between the two Toms and started fighting Macavity.

To Demeter and Munkustrap, it looked like I was actually fighting him, but, in reality, I didn't even have my claws out. We continued fighting, until it looked like I had him cornered. He jumped into the bushes. I hissed and followed him. As soon as we were out of sight, I hugged him.

"Thanks for that," he whispered into my headfur.

"Don't mention it," I said, giving him a quick kiss. "We'd better get back to the fight."

He nodded in agreement, but stopped when he noticed my bloody cheek.

"What happened to you?" He said, eyes wide.

I shrugged. "Tia accidentally scratched me. She realized it was me after a moment. It's not that bad."

He smiled. "Good," he purred. "We wouldn't want to ruin such a beautiful face, now would we?"

I grinned. "Come on. People are probably starting to get suspicious."

He gave me one more quick kiss, and we jumped out of the bushes, fighting each other. I took one last fake swipe at him, and ran away.

The fight lasted a while longer. I kept pretending to fight Macavity's henchcats, taking fake swipes at them. No one saw through my charade.

After a while, I heard a triumphant yowl from Munkustrap and Alonzo. I turned. They had a very familiar dark ginger Tom pinned on the ground. There were numerous scrapes all over him, but he was still recognizable.

It was Macavity.

Chapter 

It pained me to see Macavity, once the Napoleon of Crime, sitting there, tied up, like a helpless kitten. I watched, horrified, as Munkustrap walked up to him, and raked his claws across Macavity's face. I couldn't help it. I screamed, both in fear and anguish. I leapt at Munkustrap, throwing him off Macavity with a burst of unnatural strength. Kneeling down, I began blotting at the blood that trickled slowly from the gouges on Macavity's face. I could hear gasps behind me, but I didn't care. My secret was out in the open, and nothing but Macavity mattered now. I saw him look up at me with gratitude in his eyes, something that no other cat had seen before. But even the gratitude couldn't mask the pain. The scratches from Munkustrap were very deep and looked painful, but, I knew that Macavity had seen worse. Finally, the bleeding stopped, and I turned to look at my fellow Jellicles. Victoria, Electra, Etcetera, and Jemima were huddled, shaking, close to Jellyorum and Jenny. Pouncival, Plato, and Tumblebrutus were staring at me in horror. Bombalerina was cuddled up close to Tugger. The usually fierce red queen was terrified, as she looked at one of her best friends that close to a dangerous criminal. I saw Demeter step foreword. Munkustrap watched her fearfully, as if, if she got too close, she would die instantly. I saw hurt in Demeter's eyes, as if all the sorrows in the world were there, sucked into her.

"How could you?" she whispered, anger filling her voice. "After what he's done to this tribe!"

She made it sound like she was talking about the numerous attacks, but I knew what she was really referring to. I could have seriously hurt Munkustrap, and,

Macavity had kidnapped and tortured her when she was a kitten. I took a deep breath, lifted my head defiantly, and spoke up.

"The first night I was here, when Demeter sounded the alarm, I didn't know what to do. But, I'm not ashamed of this. I love him and that's that. So kick me out. I don't really care what you do to me. Just don't hurt Macavity." I glared at Munkustrap. "That means you," I growled. Then Cassandra spoke up.

"See, I told you!" she screeched. "She was never a loyal Jellicle!" Exotica, one of the most aggressive queens, slinked up beside her, crouching down, ready to leap.

"I say we finish them both now!" she hissed. A few murmurs of agreement were heard around the camp. Old Deuteronomy stood from his seat and addressed me.

"Jemaara, no cat here would hurt you. But I can't make the same promise for Macavity." He looked around the crowd. "Although, no cat will attack until I give the signal."

I turned to face Old Deuteronomy.

"Before I answer any questions you have, let me untie Macavity. He won't try to escape." Turning to him with pleading eyes, I whispered

"Will you?"

We both had the same thought then. They would definitely attack him if he tried, and he was in no state to fight. He solemnly shook his head. I glanced at Old Deuteronomy for the okay. He nodded. Smiling, I quickly bit through the ropes, and, once I was sure that no one would attack Macavity, I started to walk towards Old Deuteronomy. But, before I had taken five steps, Macavity gently grabbed my wrist.

"You just risked your life for me," he said. "I'm not going to loose you now."

We exchanged a loving glance, and began walking through the crowd of cats. As we walked, cats scattered in every direction. The only two cats who did not shy away were Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. They were members of Macavity's crime group but, as Teazer once put it, they weren't all evil like Macavity. They just stared at us, as if they didn't expect me to be on Macavity's side. I realized that the tribe saw me as a loyal cat that had been taken in. No one would ever think that I would take the side of the most dangerous cat alive. We halted before Old Deuteronomy. He looked down at me, a mix of pity and regret in his eyes. Looking around at the group of shocked cats, he turned back to us.

"Jemaara, I think the question that's on everyone's mind is, why?"

I turned to address the tribe.

"I can't help but love him; no more then Demeter can help but love Munkustrap."

I turned to Demeter.

"I never ment for anyone to get hurt." I then turned to Tugger.

"Especially a very close friend," I murmured.

I saw him look hurt, something that he rarely did.

"I didn't know that you had those feelings for me," I pleaded.

Then, turning to Bombalurina I said.

"But, I think you have a few people that feel the same way."

Bombalurina smiled, looking at Tugger the same loving way I looked at Macavity.


End file.
